Master of Science in Computer Information Systems

The Master of Science (MS) in Computer Information Systems program is designed for students who wish to combine technical competence in information systems with knowledge of managerial and organizational issues.

Students who complete the master’s degree in Computer Information Systems will be able to demonstrate:

Advanced knowledge in the analysis and documentation of requirements for architecture, design, and implementation of computer applications systems.

Proficiency in software and computing skills as they pertain to the design and implementation of database systems, data communications, systems analysis, and design.

Competence sufficient to identify current and emerging information technologies that may have strategic value for enterprise; assess where those technologies have value; and manage the implementation of those technologies in the enterprise.

The National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security designated Boston University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education for academic years 2007 through 2012, and a National Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research for academic years 2008 through 2013.

The Master of Science in Computer Information Systems has been accredited by the Project Management Institute Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Education Programs (GAC).

Program Options

eLive:By combining the convenience of online study and the dynamic of face-to-face learning, the eLive format provides added flexibility and new avenues of opportunity for those with demanding schedules.

Dual Degree Option

Appreciating the converging nature of management skills and technology, the Computer Science department has a special relationship with Metropolitan College’s Administrative Sciences and Actuarial Science departments. Degree candidates in either program may apply 8 credits from one degree toward a second degree in one of these disciplines, thereby reducing their work by two courses. Students must be accepted by both departments, but they may request that application materials such as references and transcripts be forwarded from the first program to the second.

Admission Information

Prerequisite courses or evidence of proficiency in these areas must accompany the application to the program. If college-level credit courses are not in evidence, the department will determine what prerequisite courses must be completed in addition to the graduate degree requirements. Students claiming equivalent proficiency in prerequisite courses from non-academic sources must take an examination to demonstrate such proficiency.

Official transcripts of previous academic work, three letters of recommendation, personal statement and résumé are required as part of the application.

A maximum of two graduate-level courses (8 credits) taken at Metropolitan College before acceptance into the program may be applied toward the degree.

Minimum passing grade for a course in the graduate program is C (2.0), but an average grade of B (3.0) must be maintained to be in good academic standing and satisfy the degree requirements.

Academic Standing

No grade lower than C may be used toward degree requirements. Students must maintain an overall grade point average of 3.0 in order to be in good academic standing and to graduate. Students with a grade point average of less than 3.0 are on academic probation and must be in a position to achieve a 3.0 within the 48 required credit hours for graduation.

Prerequisites

Applicants to the program are required to have a bachelor’s degree and proficiency in the following areas:

MET CS 200 Fundamentals of Information Technology

Sprg ‘15

This course is a technically-oriented introductory survey of information technology. Students learn about basic computer information, different types of business systems and basic systems analysis, design and development. Students also study basic mathematics, software development and create simple Java programs. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

B1

IND

Kohn

SCI 115

T

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OL

IND

Tis

ARR

–

If college-level credit courses are not in evidence, the department will determine what prerequisite courses must be completed in addition to graduate degree requirements. Students claiming equivalent proficiency in the prerequisite courses from non-academic sources must take an examination to demonstrate such proficiency.

A maximum of two graduate-level courses (eight credits) taken at Metropolitan College before acceptance into the program may be applied toward the degree.

Degree Requirements—On Campus

A total of 40 credits is required.

Core Curriculum

(Six courses/24 credits)

MET CS 546 Quantitative Methods for Information Systems

Sprg ‘15

The goal of this course is to provide Computer Information Systems students with the mathematical fundamentals required for successful quantitative analysis of problems in the field of business computing. The first part of the course introduces the mathematical prerequisites for understanding probability and statistics. Topics include combinatorial mathematics, functions, and the fundamentals of differentiation and integration. The second part of the course concentrates on the study of elementary probability theory, discrete and continuous distributions. 4 cr [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

A1

IND

Gorlin

FLR 109

M

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

EL

IND

Gorlin

FLR 109

M

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OL

IND

Temkin

ARR

–

MET CS 625 Business Data Communication and Networks

Sprg ‘15

This course presents the foundations of data communications and takes a bottom-up approach to computer networks. The course concludes with an overview of basic network security and management concepts. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

B1

IND

Arena

FLR 109

T

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

DE

IND

Mansur

ARR

–

EL

IND

Arena

FLR 109

T

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OL

IND

Mansur

ARR

–

MET CS 669 Database Design and Implementation for Business

Sprg ‘15

Students learn the latest relational and object-relational tools and techniques for persistent data and object modeling and management. Students gain extensive hands-on experience using Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server as they learn the Structured Query Language (SQL) and design and implement databases. Students design and implement a database system as a term project. class. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 782 IT Strategy and Management

Sprg ‘15

This course provides an overview of contemporary I.T. management. It explains the relevant issues of effectively managing information services. The course highlights areas of greatest current and potential application of I.T. to business needs and reviews electronic business, enterprise business systems, and decision support systems. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

A1

IND

Arakelian

FLR ARR

M

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

DE

IND

Arakelian

ARR

–

EL

IND

Arakelian

FLR ARR

M

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OL

IND

Arakelian

ARR

–

BCL

IND

Siegel

S

8:30 am – 4:00 pm

And one of the following:

MET CS 520 Information Structures

Sprg ‘15

This course covers the concepts of object-oriented approach to software design and development using the Java programming language. It includes a detailed discussion of programming concepts starting with the fundamentals of data types, control structures methods, classes, applets, arrays and strings, and proceeding to advanced topics such as inheritance and polymorphism, interfaces, creating user interfaces, exceptions, and streams. Upon completion of this course the students will be able to apply software engineering criteria to design and implement Java applications that are secure, robust, and scalable.

MET CS 601 Web Application Development

Sprg ‘15

This course focuses on building core competencies in web design and development. It begins with a complete immersion into HTML essentially XHTML and Dynamic HTML (DHTML). Students are exposed to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), as well as Dynamic CSS. The fundamentals of JavaScript language including object-oriented JavaScript is covered comprehensively. AJAX with XML and JSON are covered, as they are the primary means to transfer data from client and server. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

C1

IND

Sheehan

SMG 326

W

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

EL

IND

Robertie

SMG 228

W

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Students who have completed courses on core curriculum subjects as part of their undergraduate degree program must replace the corresponding core courses with electives. It is recommended that each replacement course be in the same technical area as the original core course. Students who have work-related experience in any of the core curriculum courses may apply for a waiver by submitting appropriate documentation. When a course waiver is granted, the student must substitute a graduate-level elective for the core course.

General Electives

(Four courses/16 credits)

Students who are not pursuing a concentration must select four elective courses from the following list. Electives other than those listed below must be approved by the student’s advisor. In choosing electives, students should make sure that they have all prerequisites required by the selected course. At least three elective courses must be at the 600 level or above:

MET CS 504 Green Information Technology

Sprg ‘15

This course empowers students to reduce the energy use, waste, and other environmental impacts of IT systems while reducing life cycle costs, thereby improving competitive advantage. Students learn how to measure computer power usage, minimize power usage, procure sustainable hardware, design green data centers, recycle computer equipment, configure computers to minimize power, use virtualization to reduce the number of servers, and other green technologies. Students also learn how to make green IT an integral part of organizational culture and planning, to foster long-term sustainable information technology. The course is executed through a combination of lectures, guest lectures, field trips, assignments, labs, case studies, and a term project. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

B1

IND

Shirley

FLR ARR

T

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 532 Computer Graphics

This course is primarily the study of design of graphic algorithms. At the end of the course you can expect to be able to write programs to model, transform and display 3-dimensional objects on a 2-dimensional display. The course starts with a brief survey of graphics devices and graphics software. 2-d primitives such as lines and curves in 2-d space are studied and a number of algorithms to draw them on a rectangular surface are introduced, followed by a study of polygons, scan conversion and other fill methods. Attributes of the primitives are studied as well as filtering and aliasing. Geometric transformations in 2 dimensions are introduced in homogeneous coordinates, followed by the viewing pipeline, which includes clipping of lines, polygons and text. Hierarchical graphics modeling is briefly studied. The graphics user interface is introduced and various input functions and interaction modes are examined. 3-d graphics is introduced through object representations through polygonal methods, spline techniques, and octrees. This is followed by 3-d transformations and the 3-d viewing pipeline. The course ends with a study of algorithms to detect the visible surfaces of a 3-d object in both the object space and the image space. Laboratory Course [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 561 Financial Informatics

Sprg ‘15

This course presents financial algorithms used in applications of computer science in financial decision analysis, risk management, data mining and market analysis, and other modern business processes. The course covers theoretical background on probabilistic methods used for financial decision making and their application in number of fields such as financial modeling, venture capital decision making, operational risk measurement and investment science. Number of financial applications and algorithms are being presented for portfolio risk analysis, modeling real options, venture capital decision making, etc. The course concludes with algorithms for financial risk assessment and presents the security concepts and challenges of financial information systems. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

C1

IND

Mehta

CGS 421

W

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 565 Advanced Java Programming

Sprg ‘15

Comprehensive coverage of object-oriented programming with cooperating classes. Implementation of polymorphism with inheritance and interfaces and in Java library containers. Programming with exceptions, stream input/output and graphical AWT and Swing components. Threads, sockets, datagrams and database connectivity are also covered in this course. Laboratory course. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

B1

IND

Abedinejad

204

T

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 567 Enterprise Systems

The course introduces the technical and business fundamentals of enterprise systems, enterprise system architecture, the design of enterprise systems, and the complex process of implementing enterprise systems. This course offers methodologies and hands-on techniques for a successful implementation of enterprise systems in organizations. In the first part of this course, participants will configure an SAP ERP system to support the main business processes for a fictitious company. In the second part of the course, students will review and discuss literature pertinent to the implementation and management of enterprise systems. This course enables students identify both high-level technical implementation requirements, and organizational/employee resistors to information systems implementation. Through a variety of technological and Human Resources/Organizational Development technologies, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the technical and behavioral do's and don'ts of Managing Enterprise System implementation. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 570 Biomedical Sciences and Health IT

Sprg ‘15

This course is designed for IT professionals, and those training to be IT professionals, who are preparing for careers in healthcare-related IT (Health Informatics). This course provides a high-level introduction into basic concepts of biomedicine and familiarizes students with the structure and organization of American healthcare system and the roles played by IT in that system. The course introduces medical terminology, human anatomy and physiology, disease processes, diagnostic modalities, and treatments associated with common disease processes. IT case studies demonstrate the key roles of health informatics and how IT tools and resources help medical professionals integrate multiple sources of information to make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. [4 cr.] [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

C1

IND

Duke-Cohan

FLR ARR

W

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

EL

IND

Zhang

FLR ARR

W

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 580 Health Informatics

Sprg ‘15

This course presents the technological fundamentals and integrated clinical applications of modern Biomedical IT. The first part of the course covers the technological fundamentals and the scientific concepts behind modern medical technologies, such as digital radiography, CT, nuclear medicine, ultrasound imaging, etc. It also presents various medical data and patient records, and focuses on various techniques for processing medical images. This part also covers medical computer networks and systems and data security and protection. The second part of the course focuses on actual medical applications that are used in health care and biomedical research. Prerequisite: MET CS 570 Biomedical Sciences and Health IT, or comparable knowledge of health sciences and fundamentals of IT with instructor's consent. [ 4 cr.] [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

C1

IND

Zhang

CAS 208

R

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

EL

IND

Zhang

CAS 208

R

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 581 Electronic Health Records

Sprg ‘15

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are application systems that automate the activities of healthcare clinicians including physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and healthcare administrative staff. Use of EHRs is increasing rapidly due to the systems' benefits and federal government programs to deploy EHRs. This increased use of EHRs has many challenges including complex data, high security requirements, integration to multiple application systems, a distributed user base, and broad impact on how these users work. Prerequisite: CS 570 Biomedical Sciences and Health IT or comparable knowledge of Health Sciences and Fundamentals of IT. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

OL

IND

Levinger

ARR

–

MET CS 599 Biometrics

Sprg ‘15

In this course we will study the fundamental and design applications of various biometric systems based on fingerprints, voice, face, hand geometry, palm print, iris, retina, and other modalities. Multimodal biometric systems that use two or more of the above characteristics will be discussed. Biometric system performance and issues related to the security and privacy aspects of these systems will also be addressed. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

A1

IND

Djordjevic

CGS 121

M

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 632 Information Technology Project Management

Sprg ‘15

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the principles, processes, and practices of software project management. Students learn techniques for planning, organizing, scheduling, and controlling software projects. There is substantial focus on software cost estimation and software risk management. Students will obtain practical project management skills and competencies related to the definition of a software project, establishment of project communications, managing project changes, and managing distributed software teams and projects. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

D1

IND

Heda

FLR ARR

R

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

EL

IND

Heda

FLR ARR

R

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OL

IND

Kanabar

ARR

–

MET CS 633 Distributed Software Development and Management

This course prepares students to justify, lead, participate in, and maintain geographically distributed development (GDD) projects. Students study the technical and business implications of GDD. They also work in geographically dispersed teams to produce documented applications. No programming background is required. Prerequisites: MET CS 520 or MET CS 601 and MET CS 682. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 634 Agile Software Development

Sprg ‘15

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the principles, processes, and practices of agile software development. Students learn techniques for initiating, planning and executing on software development projects using agile methodologies. Students will obtain practical knowledge of agile development frameworks and be able to distinguish between agile and traditional project management methodologies. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

OL

IND

Alt-Simmons

ARR

–

MET CS 651 Web Development with .NET

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to building web applications and web services using the Microsoft .NET (Version 3.5) development platform. The key technologies covered include the C# programming language (Version 3.0), the ASP.NET (Version 3.5) system for developing web applications and web services using C#, and ADO.NET and LINQ (Language INtegrated Query) for data access. In addition to the above topics, we will also cover Windows Communication Framework (WCF) and Windows Presentation Framework (WPF). All programming will be based on Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 available through BU's MSDNAA. A copy of the software will be provided to the students. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 667 Enterprise Java

The course begins with an overview of advanced Java concepts like databases, networking, and remote method invocation (RMI). The J2EE architecture is explored starting with the presentation layer which includes the servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP). The Struts application framework is presented as a case study. Hibernate and Spring framework will be covered extensively. The business layer is covered using the enterprise java beans (EJB 2.1 and EJB 3.0). Advanced concepts like Java Messaging Service and Java Server Faces will be briefly covered. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 689 Designing and Implementing a Data Warehouse

This course provides students with the technical skills required to plan, implement, and maintain a data warehouse using a DBMS such as Oracle Warehouse Builder. It describes basic data warehousing concepts. Key topics: Design a data warehousing system; implement a database designed with a star schema, gather data from primary data sources, transform data, and load data in to a DBMS. Students will create a cube using OLAP and analyze cube data using client applications. Upon successful completion, students will be familiar with the typical data warehouse components and architecture, and have an understanding of the practical uses of data warehousing. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 690 Network Security

Sprg ‘15

This course will cover advanced network security issues and solutions. The main focus on the first part of the course will be on Security basics, i.e. security services, access controls, vulnerabilities, threats and risk, network architectures and attacks. In the second part of the course, particular focus and emphasis will be given to network security capabilities and mechanisms (Access Control on wire-line and wireless networks), IPsec, Firewalls, Deep Packet Inspection and Transport security. The final portion of the course will address Network Application security (Email, Ad-hoc, XML/SAML and Services Oriented Architecture security. As part of our course review we will explore a number of Network Use Cases. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

B1

IND

Skorupka

SHA 210

T

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

MET CS 693 Digital Forensics and Investigations

Sprg ‘15

Provides a comprehensive understanding of digital forensics and investigation tools and techniques. Laboratory and hands-on assignments either in solo or in teams. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 701 Rich Internet Application Development

Sprg ‘15

The Rich Internet Application (RIA) Development course concentrates primarily on building rich client web applications in the browser for desktop and mobile devices. The course is divided into various modules covering in depth the following technologies: HTML5, jQuery UI & Mobile, and AngularJS. Along with the fundamentals underlying these technologies, several applications will be showcased as case studies. Students work with these technologies starting with simple applications and then examining real world complex applications. At the end of this course, students would have mastered the latest and widely used RIA methodologies. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 713 Advanced Digital Forensics

This course provides an introduction to the advanced digital forensic topic relating to malicious software (malware), which represents an increasing information security threat to computer systems and networks. Students will review software engineering design fundamentals and reverse engineering techniques utilized to conduct static and dynamic forensic analysis on computer systems and networks. Students will learn about the importance of forensic principles, legal considerations, digital evidence controls, and documentation of forensic procedures. This course will incorporate demonstrations and laboratory exercises to reinforce practical applications of course instruction and will require an independent research paper related to the course topic. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 780 Database Administration

This course prepares students to perform the day-to-day administration of a database system. While most of the examples in this course are based on Oracle database administration, the course also covers the differences in administering Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL and examples. The course covers administration on Windows, Linux and Unix platforms. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 781 Advanced Health Informatics

Sprg ‘15

This course presents the details of information processing in hospitals, hospital information systems (HIS), and more broadly health information systems. It presents the architecture, design, and user requirements of information systems in health care environment. It focuses on Information Technology aspects of Health Informatics specifically addressing the design, development, operation, and management of HIS. The first part of this course covers the introductory concepts including information processing needs, and information management in health care environment. The second part covers detailed description of HIS including hospital process modeling, architecture, quality assessment, and applicable tools. The final part of the course covers management of HIS and related issues and extension of this topic to other health care organizations. The course will have a term project providing students a hands-on experience in design and research of HIS. Prerequisite: CS 580 Health Informatics. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

OL

IND

Damore

ARR

–

MET CS 783 Enterprise Architecture

Sprg ‘15

This course builds upon the strong technical foundation of our MSCIS and MSCS curricula, by providing students with the CIO-level management perspective and skills of enterprise architecture, in the context of the technologies that implement those architectures. The course provides students with the understanding and skills needed to define and implement successful enterprise architectures that provide real value to organizations, such as substantially reducing IT costs while improving performance, agility and alignment of information technology to business goals. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

Section

Type

Instructor

Location

Days

Times

OL

IND

Schudy

ARR

–

MET CS 789 Cryptography

The course covers the main concepts and principles of cryptography with the main emphasis put on public key cryptography. 4 credits. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 799 Advanced Cryptography

This course builds on the material covered in CS 789 Cryptography. It begins with the coverage of commutative rings, finite fields, rings of polynomials, and finding of the greatest common divisor in the ring of polynomials. Irreducible polynomials are discussed. Field extensions and fields Fᴩ [x]/P are thoroughly covered. The main emphasis is put on elliptic curves over Fᴩ and F₂ and the ElGamal cipher on elliptic curves is presented. Block ciphers DES and double and triple DES are introduced. AES and WHIRLPOOL block ciphers and modes of operation are covered. The course continues with the introduction of message integrity and message authentication. In the last part of the course cryptographic hash functions SHA-512 and WHIRLPOOL as well as various digital signatures are introduced. Finally, entity authentication and key management issues are discussed. [ 4 cr. ]

Master’s Thesis Option in Computer Information Systems

(8 credits)

Students majoring in Computer Information Systems may elect a thesis option, to be completed within twelve months. This option is available to Master of Science in Computer Information Systems candidates who have completed at least seven courses toward their degree and have a GPA of 3.7 or higher. Students are responsible for finding a thesis advisor and a principal reader within the department. The advisor must be a full-time faculty member; the principal reader may be part-time faculty with a PhD (unless waived by department).

MET CS 810 Master's Thesis in Computer Science

This thesis must be completed within 12 months. Students majoring in Computer Science may elect a thesis option. This option is available to Master of Science in Computer Science candidates who have completed at least seven courses toward their degree and have a GPA of 3.7 or higher. Students are responsible for finding a thesis advisor and a principal reader within the department. The advisor must be a full-time faculty member; the principal reader may be part-time faculty member with a doctorate. Permission must be obtained by the department. 4cr. [ 4 cr. ]

MET CS 811 Master's Thesis in Computer Science

This thesis must be completed within 12 months. Students majoring in Computer Science may elect a thesis option. This option is available to Master of Science in Computer Science candidates who have completed at least seven courses toward their degree and have a GPA of 3.7 or higher. Students are responsible for finding a thesis advisor and a principal reader within the department. The advisor must be a full-time faculty member; the principal reader may be part-time faculty member with a doctorate. Permission must be obtained by the department. 4cr. [ 4 cr. ]

Degree Requirements—eLive

Degree requirements for the blended, eLive format MS in Computer Information Systems can be viewed here.

Degree Requirements—Online

Degree requirements for the online MS in Computer Information Systems can be viewed here.

Terrance Regan, a MET adjunct professor of city planning and urban affairs, is using the current snow-related breakdowns in the Green Line and other MBTA services as a prime teaching moment. Read more »Read more »